It's Like a Story of Love
by missdee1986
Summary: A/U after New Vegas. Charlie is playing a dangerous game with a dangerous man. And Monroe may lose more than his mind this time. But some feelings are too strong to be ignored. A Charlie/Monroe story because they are the single best thing about the show. Rated M mostly for language.
1. Chapter 1

He was going to kill her. He was sure of it. It was the only way to keep his grip on sanity.

Charlie's victory (and he had seen it as a victory) in New Vegas was annoying Monroe beyond all reason. The girl was blindsiding him from every angle. Not even Miles had ever been able to run rings around him quite the way she did. She surprised him with every move she made.

They had been travelling for a day and a half with minimal breaks and had finally stopped for a proper break and decided to make camp for the night to rest the  
horses - and if he were being honest - himself. The fights in New Vegas had taken their toll on him.

Of course she had looked ready to carry on for a while longer. He had considered killing her then, when she had sighed softly at his insistence that they stop now. But then his son had smiled at her as if she was the only pretty woman he had ever seen and he started thinking about killing him instead. Especially when she had returned the smile.

He stuffed down a pang of annoyance remembering the smile she had given him after being told that Duncan's five men were now hers. Although he was pissed as hell about it, he couldn't help feeling a little proud of the kid. She had single-handedly made sure that he and Connor got out of New Vegas alive when she could have, should have, turned tail and ran back to get her uncle.

Even the Warlord saw something in her. The look of respect Duncan had given her at the end had spoken volumes. It was hard to impress Duncan and Charlie had nailed it. He didn't think Charlie even realised how well she had done. Technically, by saving Monro e she had already paid her debt to Charlie, as that was what she had asked for in the first place. The men had been something extra. At first. he had assumed that Duncan had handed the men over for him. After all,  
she had loved him once. But no, Charlie got the prize. And even a compliment, a rarity for his ex. A compliment that still confused the hell out of him. "You're way better than he deserves." What did that mean? Did she actually think they were sleeping together?The idea was ludicrus! Charlie was half his age and she hated him. Not only that but she was Miles' niece. He liked his legs too much to even think about sleeping with her.

And she had just slept with his son.

More than anything else that annoyed him about the youngest Matheson, this bugged him the most. And he couldn't figure out why. Yes, he wanted to protect her. Yes, he wanted his son to meet a girl who he could settle down and be happy with - and Charlie was not that girl. But he couldn't ignore the fact that when he saw his son lying there with her he had wanted nothing more than to wring the little bastards neck. And he could barely keep the disappointed look off his face as he tried to speak normally to Charlotte afterwards.

He had done so many awful things in his life, he had no business judging anyone else. But Charlie was, at heart, a good girl. And she deserved better than a quick fuck in the grass - even if it was with his son.

Without warning, an image of himself laying her down in the grass and having his way with her flashed through his mind. His balls tightened. Him sliding inside her, banishing any trace of his son, her spread out below him, flushed and beautiful, begging for more...

Horrified, he ran his hands over his face and blamed his exhaustion for the turn his thoughts had taken. He couldn't think that way about her. Sure, he'd slept with younger women before - but she was even more off limits to him than she was to Connor. He needed to put her out of his mind completely. Feeling protective was one thing... maybe even a little fond, she was a mini version of his best friend after all... but those other thoughts needed to go. He needed to avoid her until they went away.

So, naturally, she chose that moment to pop up in his face.

Yes, he was definitely going to kill her.

In his musing he had wandered away from camp, far enough that he could no longer see it. But she still found him.

His first clue that something was wrong was the click of her gun. Which happened to be pointed right in his face.

"Is it true?" There were tears in her eyes. She looked more furious than he had ever seen her.

"Is what true?" For a second he had the crazy idea that she somehow knew he'd just been thinking about pumping into her until she screamed.

"The Republic. Don't act dumb Monroe, Connor told me. Is. It. True." Her hand shook only slightly and he knew there was a very good chance that he was about to die. Where was that idiot kid of his? Of all the stupid things he could have done , telling Charlie their plans was the most moronic. Kid probably thought he was impressing her. He was definitely going to kill Connor instead. If he survived this.

Slowly, he raised his hands in the air. His eyes never left hers. "Charlie, calm down. It's not what you think. I swear it isn't."

Instead of calming down, she took a step closer looking angrier than ever. He backed up and found himself effectively trapped between a tree and a furious Matheson.

"How could you? After everything that happened, everything you did." A lone tear streaked down her face and she wiped at it distractedly. He took his chance to move and reached out quickly to grab her arm. In one quick movement he had knocked her gun to the ground and pinned her against the tree.

"Get off me! Now!" She struggled, but his body held her firmly in place, his chest pressed against her back. "You're nothing but a monster, I was right about you."

He ignored the twinge in his gut at her words and pressed his mouth against her ear.

"Listen to me, Charlotte, listen." Her proximity was affecting him more than he wanted to admit. "I told Connor I wanted to rebuild the Republic with him. To get him out of Mexico. I lied, Charlie."

She seemed to sag against him in relief and he hated himself for what that did to his heart. And his groin.

"But the patriots are a problem Charlie. And when we get rid of them someone else will take their place and unless we control who that is - we could end up with something even worse." He was whispering urgently to her, desperate to make her understand before she went crying to Miles and ruined everything.

She had stopped struggling and gone silent. The longer the quiet stretched out the more uncomfortable he became. But he didn't let her go.

Slowly, she eventually turned to face him. He loosened his grip enough to let her but stayed rooted his spot in front of her.

Monroe couldn't place the look on her face as she looked up at him. He was usually so good at reading her expressions that it pained him to see her close off from their unspoken but understood connection. She pulled her arm from his grasp and yanked her sleeve up. What he saw on her wrist would haunt him for years to come he was certain.

There on her perfect skin was the militia brand. His mark. His eyes widened in astonishment.

"Something worse, like you?" Her voice was low, charged with pain.

"Charlie, I... " His heart was racing. "How?"

"It doesn't matter how." He could only stare at her, guilt eating away at his insides like acid.

"I swear to you, I swear Charlotte, I won't ever be what I was before. Not again. I won't let it happen." His eyes begged her to believe him and maybe she did because her reply made him want to wrap her in his arms and kiss her until she forgot everything he had ever done to cause her pain.

"Promise?" Charlie didn't believe him, but he could see that despite herself there was hope burning in her eyes. After everything he put her through, she had hope that he could be a better man. He wanted to justify that hope more than anything. Even more than he wanted to keep his son with him.

He reached out and took her face in his hands. "I promise, Charlotte." Leaning up, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. The gesture was purely platonic yet he heard her breath hitch. Pulling back to look at her, he got the shock of his life when she leaned forward and pressed her lips softly against his. Stunned, he froze in place. Her eyes lit with curiosity as she stared right back at him. Her tongue swept her lower lip and he was gone. With a sound like a growl, he crashed his mouth to hers, kissing her wildly.

Charlie gave as good as she got. Gripping the front of his shirt, she kissed him back with force. A loud groan escaped him as she pressed herself against his rapidly inflating erection. The sound seemed to bring her back to her senses and she broke the kiss.

For a long moment they stared at each other. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest and was certain she could feel his own. Her face was flushed and her lips swollen. She had never looked more beautiful to him.

Awareness seemed to return to her and the mask of calm took over her face. He almost believed it. She raised an eyebrow at him and he understood the meaning. Lifting an arm to allow her to move away, Monroe's breathing finally returned to normal.

"What the hell was that Charlie?"

She hesitated for a moment, looking uncomfortable. Then to his surprise, a smirk that reminded him of Miles formed on her face.

"I just wanted to compare. Connor definitely won."

With that, she grinned at him and turned and walked away.

Yes, he was definitely, _really _going to kill her.


	2. Chapter 2

_A-N - Hey everyone. First of all, thank you for the reviews and follows etc. They're appreciated very much :) Secondly, I make no apologies for this chapter. Monroe and Charlie wrote this, I was just the vessel lol. Hope you guys like. _

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Charlie made her way back to camp with her mind reeling. She had kissed _Monroe_. Without a gun pointed at her head and somebody telling her to do it or die!

This was beyond awful. Her parting remark about Connor might have royally pissed him off - she could see it in the the way his jaw clenched - but Monroe wasn't stupid enough to believe her explanation.

She felt like the stupid one. Very, very stupid. And also humiliated. And incredibly turned on. Sex with Connor hadn't produced the reaction in her body that just a kiss with Monroe had. And that was bad. Very bad. She'd never look him in the eye again. 'He must think I'm a whore!' Despite the fact that she was supposed to hate him and certainly not meant to give a crap what he thought, she couldn't help the horrible feeling in her gut at the idea of him thinking badly of her. 'But then,' she thought, 'he was the one who kissed me back. Why did he do that?'

She had no idea. Heat of the moment probably. Seeing Duncan again might have gotten him wound up. They clearly used to sleep together. Maybe she had turned down a repeat performance. But why would he then take his pent up lust out on Charlie, even if she had initiated the whole thing, was way beyond her.

Thinking about Duncan and Monroe together made her cringe. The warlord had turned out to be pretty cool - not that Charlie would ever admit that out loud - but the idea of her anywhere near Monroe made Charlie fantasize about sticking sharp things in the bitch's eyes.

She didn't even wanna think about why that might be.

By now she was back with her men. Connor, she saw, had already fallen asleep by the fire and she was glad. His attempts to get closer to her on the way back had been hard to dodge. Spending more time with him, she realized he was an okay guy, but beyond a passing physical attraction she felt nothing. Even his father stirred more passion in her than he did.

And thinking about his father was something she intended to never do again.

Abruptly, she forced her mind onto other things. The men Duncan had given her were a good bunch. They did everything she asked as soon as she asked it. They seemed to respect her and for that she was glad. It was nerve-wrecking - ordering people around, especially with the former dictator of an entire Republic watching her every move with them like he was just waiting for her to fail. So she was grateful that they seemed to like her.

The other two men she traveled with hadn't quite managed to get their approval though. They barely tolerated Monroe and were just about stiffly polite to Connor. If she hadn't found it so funny she might have asked them to lighten up on them. But anything that annoyed Monroe was fine with her. She had to work with him to fight against the patriots with any chance of winning, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

The problem was she did like it. Far too much. Charlie had never felt more alive than when she was fighting back to back with him. The way he moved with a sword in his hand was almost poetic. It was also one of the hottest things she had ever seen, but that had quickly been filed under the Never Think About Again folder in her head. Or at least she'd thought it had. Now that she had kissed the hell out of him she wondered if she had ever really forgotten how attractive he was to her.

That had been the point of sleeping with Connor she now realized, forgetting that his father could make her pants damp just by looking at her. Okay, pissing off his father had been her primary intention - but having just had her tongue in Monroe's mouth - she realized that she had mostly been trying to bury the feeling that she'd had in her chest whenever Duncan had gotten the idea that they were together.

She pulled her bedroll out and lay down after nodding to one of her men who had taken first watch. Turning onto her side she caught sight of Monroe returning to camp. As he got closer she squeezed her eyes shut tightly and prayed he wouldn't feel the need to speak to her. Or to mention what they had just done to anyone. Or, God forbid, try to kiss her again. The sensation of his lips moving over hers, domineering and powerful and oh so sensual was stuck on permanent loop in her head. Frustration ate at her insides. Imagining what his tongue could do elsewhere on her body was not helping. With a loud sigh, she turned over and tried to make her mind go blank.

She was not thinking about Monroe again.

Monroe bit back a smirk as he watched Charlotte pretend to be asleep. He hadn't been that far behind her, there was no way she had passed out so quickly. The smirk died on his face though when he made eye contact with the man on watch. Those assholes were gonna learn a thing or two about respect by the time this was over. The dislike they had for him was almost tangible in the air every time they were anywhere near him. Like everyone else they probably believed that he was responsible for the bombs dropping. Idiots. He grabbed his bedroll and decided to try get a few hours before they had to start all that damn walking again.

Later, he would say that it was purely by accident, but he had somehow made his way right next to a "sleeping" Charlie. It occurred to him to move further away, but a part of him that wanted to keep close to her won out. Wasn't like they stayed far away from each other these days anyway. Truth was they pretty much did everything next to each other. Eat, sleep, even the walking. Somehow they always managed to be within touching distance of each other. He told himself that he had just been keeping a close eye on her, as Miles would want him to. But deep down he knew what he was really doing. He just hadn't realized that Charlie was actually doing the same thing. Now he could see it clearly.

He wanted her. God did he want her. And it seemed like maybe Charlotte wanted him too. He wasn't an idiot. The look in her eyes after he had kissed her couldn't have been faked in that moment, no matter what she said afterwards. Thinking of her jibe made anger surge through him again. Connor had nothing whatsoever to do with what had happened between them and they both knew it.

Charlie sighing then shifting beside him caught his attention.

"Finding it hard to sleep, Charlotte?" He whispered, low enough that only she could hear.

The surprise on her face when she turned to face him said she had been so deep in thought she hadn't even heard him approach. He grinned at her as she glared, her mask of calm indifference gone.

"Jeez... Seriously Monroe, you couldn't find anywhere else to sleep?" she whispered.

He couldn't keep his grin from widening, not that he tried to, "Am I making you uncomfortable, Charlotte?"

Bass bit back a chuckle as she snorted, "Of course you are, you're you, you make everyone uncomfortable. And stop calling me Charlotte! I hate when you do that."

He felt a surge of lust at the look on her face. It was hard not to just reach out and yank her to him. And speaking of hard - just breathing in her scent was doing dangerous things to his body. His eyes darkened as he stared at her, suddenly deadly serious. Charlie shot him a half assed glare, looking uncomfortable again, before turning away from him completely.

"Goodnight, Charlotte." He whispered at her back.

Instead of an angry retort, something inside of him clenched painfully when she finally spoke again.

"Goodnight... Sebastian."

It was still dark when she opened her eyes again. There was an arm around her and her face was pressed against something solid and warm. Fingers were gently running through her hair. For a second she pictured Connor sneaking in beside her and irritation rose. Then she caught a familiar smell - woodsy and masculine - and realized who was holding onto her. Embarrassment filled her immediately. She must have moved in her sleep, straight onto Monroe.

Slowly, she pulled her head back to look up, certain he would be ready to mock her. But instead of humor dancing in his eyes in the glow of the dying fire, she was shocked to see sadness there instead. His fingers had remained in her hair, but her movement had seemed to startle him back from wherever his mind had been. Their eyes locked together. Charlie had no idea what to say, or do. She had never experienced an upset Monroe before and had no idea how to handle it. Suddenly, she was very aware how close they were. Before she had a chance to think anything else, she felt his lips brush softly against hers.

Her heart began pounding in her chest. Monroe's fingers had tightened in her hair. She let her eyes flutter shut as he watched her, as if trying to gauge her reaction. Seemingly encouraged by this, he did it again. What little defense she had against his touch crumbled as she kissed him back. Their mouths moved slowly against each other, something other than desperate passion guiding them this time. Her hands rested against his chest as she all but purred into his kiss. Their tongues tangled as they deepened it, each content to take it slow, as though they had all the time in the world.

He gently maneuvered them until she lay beneath him, his body resting between her legs, lips never parting once. She could feel him rock hard against her and on instinct wrapped her legs around him, pulling his body against her in the most delicious way. He let out a low groan against her mouth, breaking their kiss only briefly to mumble her name. Her entire body seemed to come alive.

Monroe's hands should not have felt so damn good sliding down her sides and up under her shirt, but they did. As his fingers brushed over her nipples she almost came right there. Thrills of pleasure rode up her spine as he pressed his erection more firmly against her. Though they were fully clothed, they began moving against each other as though they were naked. As his tongue danced with hers, she swore she was about to explode from the amazing friction they were creating between them.

Her hands slid down his back, slipping inside his jeans to grip his ass, her nails definitely leaving their mark. He hissed and broke away to bury his face in her neck, biting and sucking at the skin below her ear, still grinding against her.

Charlie's entire body was alight with need, she was so close to an orgasm that all it took was for him to whisper her name in that sexy, husky voice of his to send her over the edge. She gripped onto him, bringing her hands up to drag his face back for another explosive kiss.

As it overcame her, she groaned his full name softly against his lips and he followed her over the edge.

They finally stopped moving and he collapsed on top of her. Charlie's fingers immediately went to his curls, lost in momentary bliss.

Disbelief, shame, anger and blame would probably follow this, but for right now, she was content to just lay where she was, Sebastian Monroe in her arms and the warmth of satisfaction humming through her entire body. In seconds, she was sleeping peacefully.

Monroe's last waking thought that night was that he had actually just dry-humped a girl half his age. Who also happened to be the much loved niece of his best friend. The man who used to rule half the country was being reduced to acting like a desperate teenage boy. He was definitely going to have to kill her.

* * *

_A-N - As I said, not sorry lol. They're not the kind of people who wouldn't act on their feelings in the moment. Consequences and the feelings afterwards/ next morning are a different matter. Let me know what you think, or you're not getting any more! lol kidding!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N- here you go guys, let me know what you think. Those of you waiting for an update on my Klaroline story - I'm sorry. My mother has taken hostage of my copy of next chap, to "just look over it for you love" closet fan mefinks, should be up by tomorrow but don't quote me :S. _

_Anyway, since the show seems to determined to do what others have done to their most interesting couples, I hope you guys find a teeny tiny bit of comfort in my fanfic :)I also hope Monroe is the one to save Charlie next ep cause if tis Connor I may give up entirely. _

_I own nothing yadda yadda... Thanks for all the reviews and favs they mean a lot to me, constructive feedback is always welcome :)_

* * *

When he woke up again he was alone. And in dire need of a wash. With a groan he rolled onto his back. Last night had been... severely screwed up. But he couldn't remember a time when he had wanted someone so badly. And falling asleep with Charlie tucked tightly against him, holding him; it had been the most at peace he had felt in a long, long time.

A wry smile formed on his face as he pictured what he reaction would have been when she awoke this morning. She must have been horrified with herself. Letting the monster General touch her. He realized with a bitter chuckle that she probably hadn't even noticed that the guy on watch hadn't seen their little moment of fun. On the one hand, Charlie not knowing that her guy Manson or Mason or Marilyn - or whatever the hell his name was - had sneaked off for a ten minute leak, or more likely a few minutes out of sight with his right hand; well, it was pretty affirming for his ego. Not to mention hilarious. But on the other hand, if she didn't know that they weren't seen there was a risk she might blurt out some excuse trying to explain herself and give away that what had happened between them had been anything more than some accidental cuddling.

They had been reckless and stupid. Acting without thinking in the world they now lived in was plain idiocy. If anyone saw them last night they may well tell Miles, (which was far from good. He was the one plotting deaths in their little gang - not Miles.). Or worse, they might mention it to Connor.

Bass wasn't an idiot (unless it came to beautiful and infuriating women of course), he could see that his son had a thing for Charlie. He could also blatantly see,  
(even before she had willfully attacked him with that body of hers - which was the version of events he planned on telling Miles should he ever find out), that  
Charlie did not feel the same way. She looked at Connor as though he was a new puppy they had brought home to her from the trip to Mexico - amusing; if bewildering in it's exuberance. She seemed to like him well enough, they got along alright. But Bass had never seen anything to suggest she felt anything more for his son. '_Except for her laying naked beside him, you dick.'_

He rubbed his eyes, trying to push the image from his mind. But he was already back to elaborately planning how he was going to just kill the girl and bring an end to his misery. Before he could get too detailed, Connor showed up.

"Hey old man, come on. Breakfast! We need to leave soon."

"Leave soon?" He blinked up at his kid. He was in charge here, he decided when they left. "Says who?"

Connor smirked down at his dad, clearly waiting for a reaction, "Says Charlie."

As Bass grumbled a few dozen choice swear words about what "Charlotte" could do with her "leave soon" Connor started laughing outright. Bass fought the urge to get up and punch him.

After a long wash Charlie had finally started to feel normal again. Waking up still clinging to Monroe had been a sharp shock. At first she had assumed she dreamed the whole thing. Then, when reality hit in the form of his body still half over hers, she began praying that Monroe at least would think he'd had a dirty dream or something. But as she had gently eased her way out from under him and he'd clutched at the air in his sleep looking for her and mumbling a "Charlotte." she'd found herself reaching out to stroke a hand down his back soothingly. He looked so peaceful; happy even, that she'd had a hard time keeping in mind that this was Monroe and not some sweet guy she had picked up.

Of course the second she had stood up she started mentally calling him a bastard again. Because watching her carefully, an unreadable look on his face was Mason.

Lately her fallback expression when in doubt had been a wide smile. This morning, she had barely managed a grimace. Cringing hard now as she looked back on it, she thought about asking Monroe to just kill the guy. She could pretend that she didn't want him to go tell Miles and get them both shot but really, she just wanted to never have to make eye contact with him ever again. But Mason was a good man who watched her back constantly. Even if he did throw disapproving looks her way every time she was standing too close with Monroe.

Now as she made her way back to camp she decided that it wasn't really that big of a deal. So she had made out with Monroe... granted there were a few extras thrown in, including a massive orgasm, but it wasn't as if they had actually had sex. It was barely anything really. And it would never happen again. There was a sharp tug of longing in her chest as she thought about never getting to touch him again.

Her dad was dead because of him. And her little brother. How could she be feeling anything other than loathing for the man?_ 'But then, is it really that simple? My mom ended the world in the first place. Miles is known as The Butcher. I've lost count of how many I have killed. Are any of us really fit to judge? Monroe asked for my dad, he never wanted him killed. And his men were the ones who killed Danny, he wasn't even there. Ultimate responsibility for their deaths lies with him. But then, he only went after our family in the first place because my mom took the power away and refused to tell him, or anyone else anything about it. So it could be said that she was the one ultimately responsible.'_

She didn't know if she was coming to an enlightening conclusion about Monroe with all the kind thoughts or making excuses for herself and her actions.

Unfortunately, she had run out of time to decide.

"Thinking about me Charlotte?"

Screw kind thoughts, she was right about him. He was a stupid, smirk y bastard with a stupid smirk and the next chance she got she was gonna stab him.

She made to walk around him, not even dignifying his question with an answer, but it was Monroe she was dealing with. Why she kept forgetting that she'd never know.

He grabbed her arms, forcing her to stop in front of him. The fact that he was suddenly chest to chest with her wasn't helping her to relax any. As their eyes met she sincerely hoped that he didn't notice the sudden heat she was feeling.

"We need to talk about what happened last night." '_Oh, God, really Monroe? Seriously?'_

"No, no we really don't." She tried to pull away but his grip tightened.

"Are you ashamed of me Charlotte?" The amusement was clear in his voice. "Don't worry, no one saw us."

At the look on her face he had to stop himself from bursting out laughing. Relief and disbelief at the same time. He could understand, neither of them were usually that lucky. "Your guy on watch hasn't had a woman in a while I guess." The leer on his face should_ not_ have been sexy. "He disappeared at just the right time." Monroe finished, but he still hadn't let go of her arms.

Memories of the way he was touching her last night came to her. His lips were so close she could feel his breath on her face. He was so near already all she'd have to do was lean up a little... Monroe must have picked up on her mood because the smirk disappeared. His gaze went from lighthearted to intense in half a second. The world around them dropped away. Suddenly, ironically, the air seemed filled with electricity. Neither was willing to be the one to give in and close the distance between their mouths, yet neither moved away.

Charlie felt her heart begin to speed up. This _couldn't_ happen, it just couldn't. It was beyond wrong. But as his eyes bored into hers and his hand came to rest on her cheek she couldn't summon the will to pull away.

Her skin was soft beneath his rough fingers. He couldn't get over just how beautiful she was. It shouldn't have felt so fucking_ right_ the way she just fit against him - like no other woman had. Bass tried to summon the will to let her go. This could never go anywhere. They could never be... anything. If she was too good for his son then she was sure as hell too good for him. But as she stood there just looking up at him, letting him touch her, he couldn't bring himself to do the right thing any more than he could last night. Couldn't bring himself to not taint her any further.

His fingers gently ran over her cheek. Charlies eyes closed as she turned into them. "Charlie.." he murmured, lowering his head. Somehow her hands had ended up in his hair, she was on her tiptoes and their lips were touching...

"Charlie!"

They sprang apart as Connor's voice intruded on their moment. She tried to get her breathing back under control with difficulty. Looking at Monroe was not an option right now. Connor appearing at least gave her something else to focus on. She honestly didn't know whether she wanted to thank him or punch him for showing up right now. Sneaking a peak out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Monroe seemed to have frozen in place.

Connor's smile at seeing her faded as he glanced between Charlie and his dad. Something had clearly been going on; Monroe looked murderous and Charlie was definitely uncomfortable. He figured they had been arguing again. Why that Duncan chick had thought they were together was beyond him, all they seemed to do was argue, disagree, and just generally attempt to irritate each other.

"You okay?" He directed the question at Charlie and her answering smile seemed to piss his father off even more.

"Why don't you two lovebirds get back to camp while I wash up. I feel dirty." Monroe practically growled at them once he found his voice. Charlie visibly flinched at his words and without a second glance at either of them she walked away. It took Connor two seconds to turn on his heels and follow her after shooting a "what the hell?" look at his dad.

"Hey, slow down," he finally caught up, taking hold of her arm and being shrugged off immediately. "What did he say to you? If you want I can go back and punch the crap out of him for you." That earned him a smile. Charlie was furious with herself for letting Monroe upset her. She thanked God that no tears had spilled out - it had been touch and go for a second there. The fact that he had the ability to hurt her feelings at all was sickening. "Nothing," she told Connor, making an effort to keep her face calm, "he didn't say anything, just being an ass as usual." He reached a hand up to touch her face and she recoiled automatically, then kicked herself mentally when his expression became that of a wounded puppy.

"Look Charlie I get it okay. You don't want to be with me or anything. But I'd still like to be your friend. And before you blow me off or give me some crap about how there's no point in making friends since we'll all be dead soon -" she let out a chuckle at that, "see? I make you laugh at least. Come on, Matheson, friends? If you're right you'll only have to put up with me for a few months anyway."

She couldn't help but nod at him. He could be as charming and persuasive as his father when he wanted something. "Fine, okay. But if you ask me over to braid your hair and talk about boys even one time - " "You'll shoot my face off with that gun of yours, yeah yeah, I know." He grinned and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head atop hers. She froze for a second. _Of course he's a hugger. Gross._ She awkwardly held his arm for a moment then pulled away to smile at him. "Come on, let's hit the road."

"Yes ma'am." He smiled at her and led the way back to camp.

Bass felt like a bastard. He deserved to. The hurt look on her face had been impossible to miss. No matter how much he wanted her, one look at her and Connor's stupid grins at each other had had him wanting to end both of them. So he had lashed out, like he always did.

It was right, to push her away. To bring back the hatred she had felt for him last time they left New Vegas together. But he couldn't stop feeling like an asshole. The urge to run after her and apologize made him want to punch something. He'd caused the girl enough pain already.

Everybody else looked at him like he was a monster. No one had the right to more than Charlie did. But she had stopped doing that a long time ago. There was something other than disdain in her eyes when she looked at him now and he was addicted to it, to the hope it gave him that he could be more than just General Monroe. And he didn't want to let that go. He turned before he could talk himself out of it and headed back towards her, practically jogging in his hurry.  
And arrived just in time to witness his son wrap Charlie in his arms for a hug.

As Connor rested his head atop Charlies she reached up and placed her hands somewhat awkwardly on him arm. Her obvious discomfort was ironically, probably what saved Connor's life. Because the ruthless, merciless General that seemed to stay just below the surface in Bass already had his hand wrapped tightly around the sword at his side.

A desperate urge to get away from the scene in front of him warred with a deeper, almost primal need to separate the other mans head from his body. But the other man was his son and this was beyond fucked up but he couldn't - wouldn't harm him. Kid was only trying to comfort an upset Charlie anyway. Upset that he had caused. His goddamned mouth had gotten him into this. He'd pushed her, quite literally, into Connor's arms. Bass' shoulders slumped in defeat. It had been moronic of him to chase after her in the first place and the stupidity needed to stop. Now.

Charlie couldn't wait to get back to her family. Well, Miles anyway. Nobody seemed to be talking to anybody else as they walked and that was just fine with her. As Connor scouted on ahead she stayed with her men. Monroe was bringing up the rear looking all moody and lost. Not that she had noticed or anything. She had risked a look backwards once or twice and caught the same faraway brooding look on his face each time. Once, he met her eyes and his gaze turn inquisitive - like she had the answer to some question that was killing him. She turned back, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in her stomach. If he wanted to be an asshat then that was just fine with her. Would make it a hell of a lot easier to avoid getting close to him again.

Connor looked back at her and flashed a smile. She couldn't help but grin back at him. After their conversation this morning they seemed to have arrived at an understanding. Friends. The word felt weird as she repeated it in her mind. It had been so long since she'd had one and that had suited her just fine. Friends could be taken away, they could be killed - like Nora had been. Or they could choose to leave you behind - like Aaron had. It was safer to care about as little as possible. But not liking Connor was not an option. He was just too cute. And open. And he reminded her of his father, which wasn't necessarily a good reason to keep him close but she was trying hard not to think too closely on that.

She stifled a ridiculous urge to run as he came up beside her. The fact that she hadn't even had to look up to know it was him beside her didn't escape her notice.

"Tell me something... Of all the guys you could choose to fuck, why pick my son?" His voice was casual. Too casual.

If he was trying to wind her up, it was working.

"None of your business," she told him quietly and hoped he would drop it and get lost.

Apparently he wasn't gonna change his entire personality just to suit her, the bastard. "Considering what happened last night you and I both know that it is my business."

There was a sadness in his tone, a sense of hurt that made her both want to smack him upside the head and beg him to forgive her.

"He was cute, I was bored. End of story."

Charlie hadn't really expected him to believe her but his reaction shocked her so badly she made the mistake of letting it happen.

He grabbed her arm and turned to her men, "Go on ahead, we'll follow." he ordered them. As they all looked to Charlie his grip on her tightened painfully, "I'm happy to have this conversation in front of everyone Charlotte, but I doubt you are." She was too surprised to realize he was bluffing, so she dumbly nodded at her guys and let him drag her off into the trees.

Once he had decided they were far enough away she felt her back slam not very gently into a tree. And she finally snapped out of her stupor.

Monroe was towering over, looking almost wild in his anger. Anyone else would be terrified but somewhere in her mind she noted with dismay that it wasn't a frisson of _fear _that had started creeping up her spine. "What the hell Monroe?!"

"Answer the question."

"No!"

"Don't act like a child."

"According to you I am one."

"Dammit Charlie!"

She flinched as his fist slammed into the tree above her head. For the first time ever she began to feel afraid of him. Not that she thought he would ever hurt her - because somehow that seemed impossible. But Monroe was losing it. And if she didn't get away from him right now this was going to go too far. Struggling against him though, it became more of a turn on than a legitimate escape plan. Charlie felt a thrill of awareness as his hard stomach pressed her against the tree.

They both stilled. Breathing hard, she glared at him with more defiance than she really felt.

"Why Connor?" His eyes had started doing that watery thing, she hated that she cared.

"Because I hate you!" She blurted at him. Monroe froze, hurt more evident on his face than ever. But before he could react at all she kept on going, tripping over her words in a rush to get them out, to be free of them. "Because I didn't want to feel - to feel - _this _- this stupid feeling in my stomach and you were off _talking _with Duncan even though I see the way you look at me and I hated that I even cared and he was there and not you and so I did it. I wanted you out of my head for good." Charlie finally trailed off, a horrified expression covering her face.

Bass stared at her in shock. In all the wondering he had done about her motives for sleeping with Connor - nothing prepared him for the truth. She wanted him. _Him. _She was jealous of Duncan. As if he could have touched the warlord with thoughts of Charlie taking over his head. The stupid, _thoughtless _girl. Every urge, every sexual thought he'd had since the trip to Willoughby - and even before if he was being honest - had been about her.

He meant to ask, if it had worked, getting him out of her head but somehow instead his lips had found their way to hers. They moved slowly, caressing her mouth softly. Bass poured everything he was feeling for this infuriating girl into his kiss. When she moaned softly into him, winding her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer against her body he was lost. Somehow they made their way to the ground still kissing. He turned her, pulling her into his lap as he slid down, leaning back against the tree bark.

She clung to him, all reasonable thought going out the window as his kisses moved to her neck. His hand disappeared up the back of her shirt as she arched backwards, grinding down against him, desperate to feel the same delicious friction from the previous night. But this time it wasn't enough. Her resolve had crumbled, now that she had admitted to wanting him, she needed all of him.

As she began undoing his buttons he paused, pulling back a little to look at her carefully. his gaze unsure. "Charlotte-" Charlie pressed a finger against his lips, ceasing any further talk. "Sebastian." His eyes darkened at her use of his name and she quickly replaced her finger with her mouth. Hot kisses turned into a desperate battle for control. His hands felt like they were everywhere on her body at once, as she returned to his shirt a frustrated growl escaped when the last few buttons refused to come loose. Charlie ripped the rest open, earning her a chuckle from the man underneath her, the vibration going right through to all the right places.

If he had any more thoughts of stopping, they disappeared the second she leaned back and pulled her own shirt off. Charlie stood up and Bass allowed her to pull him with her, his mouth immediately finding a nipple. They became ever more frantic, pulling at each others pants until they were free. Charlie stepped free of hers while freeing his throbbing erection. Her legs were suddenly around his waist, her soaking heat rubbing against him. For the first time since he was a teenager he was afraid he might come before he had even gotten in. He made to step back with her, forgetting that his jeans were still around his ankles. They stumbled backwards, lucky enough to make contact with the same tree but neither really noticing or caring at this point. Bass sank back to the ground with her and set to exploring her mouth with his tongue again. Charlie shifted her hips against him and suddenly he was sliding inside her. His hands moved to grip her hair, hissing sharply as she took every inch in one long, exquisite moment.

And then she was moving. Every rise and fall of her incredible body bringing him closer and closer to the edge. "Charlotte, I'm close - fuck." he groaned. She seemed to understand because she stilled for a second. "Do it, fuck me Sebastian."

Charlie knew she'd said the right thing because suddenly she was on her back, his arms keeping her from the ground and he was slamming into her, hard and deep. She tried and failed to catch her breath as he filled her completely with every thrust. His face was buried in her neck and she didn't think she could stop him now even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. It felt like he was pushing into her very soul, possessing every inch of her. As she felt her climax build she spurred him on, her legs tightly around him, nails clawing into his back. "_Oh God..." _was all she managed to say as she exploded, her core clenching around him in waves, pulling him over the edge with her. Neither even thought of separation as he spilled inside her, panting her name over and over.

They lay in silence afterwards, coming back down. He was still holding her against him, his face buried in her chest as she stroked a hand up and down his back.

Charlie had never felt anything like what she had just experienced. Everything about what they had just done felt right. Mentally, she began berating herself for waiting so long. The others would be wondering what they were doing. Connor could walk up at any moment looking for her as he had this morning, but she didn't give a crap. If she never got to move from this spot ever again she'd be fine with that. Sebastian seemed to feel the same way because he wasn't showing any signs of movement. She decided she liked that, calling him Sebastian. Monroe just didn't fit anymore. At some point she must have voiced her thoughts because he pulled his head back to look at her, definitely amused. Raising an eyebrow, she cocked her head at him, challenge written all over her face. "Problem?" she asked him.

Bass chuckled, leaning down to kiss her. "Not at all, every time I hear you say my full name like that I wanna ravage you."

"I'm good with that, Sebastian." she answered, grinning as he groaned and attacked her mouth again. The stirrings of another hard on were forming against her thigh. As she remembered how they'd even ended up out here her eyes darkened. Grabbing his face, she thrust her tongue into his mouth, kissing him deeply. As his body reacted she took her chance and rolled them over, landing on top of him and breaking the kiss with a wicked grin. "Maybe later, _Monroe._" He growled as she pulled away completely, moving to get dressed before he could even think about pulling his jeans back up. "But right now we gotta get back before they look for us." With a final grin at him, as he sat staring at her, desire and shock mixing on his face comically, she turned and walked away, a new swagger in her hips.

As Bass pulled his pants up and looked for his shirt, while tucking his still half-erect manhood away, he was at once completely satisfied yet hungry for more.

_'I am definitely going to kill her.'_


End file.
